Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS Hagerstown District Freq Change?

I am hearing the NS Hagerstown Dispatcher issuing track time to workers along the old N&W H Line at and well north of Front Royal on the 160.950 frequency which has long been the Sou road channel along the Alex-Atlanta main and the Sou B Line out of Manassas to Edinburg.  When did this channel change happen on the H Line?  And speaking of channel changes, I also recently heard locally in the Manassas area a conversation on NS "Channel 2" on 160.245 which was direct - dispatcher and train both on the same frequency, 160.245.  First time I heard that.  Channel 2, 160.245 used to be dispatcher only with the train or track worker on 160.830.  So has there been a significant channel frequency change with NS here in the Harrisburg South Division? (former Piedmont Division Washington District)  If so, are there any other interesting details?  

While I can't speak to radio channel changes up that way I can tell you that since January of 2017 here in the southeast and in particular starting with the Georgia Division of NS and within the last year the Alabama Division there have been upwards of a bakers dozen PLUS channels added to a railfans scan list.  Gone is the old Southern "Duplex 48-09 channel two system wide. Terminals Atlanta, Chattanooga & Macon all use AAR 42-42.  Birmingham terminal I believe still uses a Duplex Inbound AAR 26-26 / 65-65 and Outbound AAR 36-36 / 93-93. Gone are the days of all you needed in the southeast was 3 AAR channels. With so many groups within NS using the communication system people were walking all over each other and safety was being compromised.
Hope you get some response to your post that provides the answers you are looking for.


 

Phil Maton
Villa Rica, GA

The H-line change happened a couple months ago.  Prior to that, the Hagerstown DS had to monitor 160.44 until a train got to Riverton Jct, then change to 160.95 for the same train to continue east on the B-line, then south on the main at Manassas.  Shenandoah to Riverton Jct is also 160.95, so now the DS only has to monitor 1 frequency for his territory for road #1.

Thanks David.  A couple of months ago already, eh?  I haven't been paying close enough attention I guess.  Although that area is at the limit of my radio reception range from Nokesville.  I was aware that the Hargerstown Disp had to work the old N&W channel along with the Sou channel.  It makes sense to me to have it all on that same road channel.  Do you know how much of the H Line the Hagerstown Disp is handling?  I suppose it is all the way up to Vardo.  But how far south I wonder?  I haven't heard anything mentioned on the air south of Warren.  I believe Roanoke used to handle all that.  --  BTW, I really enjoy your quality photographs you post.  You should be the corporate photographer for NS.  It would improve their calendars. - Nothing against the existing NS official photographer of course!   ;-)     - Sam